1.11 Time's effect on the material

Time's effect on the material

In the classic cartoon, Road Runner and his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote, are marvels of endurance. No matter how violenttheir confrontations, both are impervious to harm. "Beep, beep"--and the two adversaries are ready to renew theirstruggle afresh. Time has no lasting effect on either of them.

Similarly, we rely on computer memory being absolute: no matter how we alter a document, unsaved it returns to itsoriginal form; our applications are intended to boot up intact. Movies and recordings create permanent records ofotherwise perishable performances. Symbols and monuments such as the bald eagle and the Lincoln Memorial stand as enduringemblems of liberty. We turn to timeless spiritual ideas for consolation and inspiration.

But for so much else in our experience, time's force is perpetual and relentless: It is constantly chiseling away,creating new forms. Transformation may be sudden or slow, obvious or hidden, but it is inexorable. Cloud watching is atestimony to nature's restless inventiveness. "Planned obsolescence" is built into many consumer items. Livingthings are particularly vulnerable: Our bodies are in a continual state of transformation. Even human memory is not absolute, but a recreationthat conjures up the past for us with inevitable distortions, evasions, substitutions and changing emphases. Try as wemight to hold on to the past, it flees -- that is a fundamental condition of living.

Whether time has an effect on the material is a crucial issue explored in a piece of music. Is the musical material able torecuperate itself exactly? Does it ever return in its original form? Or is it destined to be continually impermanent andvolatile?

Oscar Wilde'sis a powerful allegory about time's effect. The title character isable to hold off the ravages of time, outliving lovers, rivals and friends without the slightest hint of aging. His secretis a portrait, painted by a diabolical artist and kept hidden in a locked room. The portrait grows old in his stead,enabling Dorian Gray to survive unchanged. When the painting is finally discovered, its image has become horrificallydecrepit and menacing. Once the painting has been destroyed,time's effect catches up with Dorian Gray: He is reduced to a pile of ash. The Picture of Dorian Gray

When musical material returns with little or no change, it speaks to the material's persistence and durability. Thematerial is not vulnerable to time: No matter what has happened in the interim, the music is able to reconstituteitself exactly. It is stable enough to endure. The longer the passage that is restored unchanged, the greater the effect ofstability.

Bach'sopens with a confident thematic statement by the orchestra. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

The movement gradually builds in intensity, culminating in a wild, flamboyant harpsichord solo.

The harpsichord seems to bring the music to a precarious cliff, ready to fall off. But it rescues itself and leadsback to a return of the main theme.